


On a Stakeout, and Afterwards

by Paian



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: 1000-3000 words, Alien Planet, Backstory, Don't Ask Don't Tell, M/M, Sexual Tension, Surveillance, Unresolved Sexual Tension, offworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-03-25
Updated: 2005-03-25
Packaged: 2017-10-03 16:59:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paian/pseuds/Paian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>People talking during a stakeout. Jack and Daniel talking after the stakeout.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On a Stakeout, and Afterwards

"Shut the fuck up, Penske."

Jack didn't know how many times he'd said that in the last two days. Mission had turned into the stakeout from hell. Intense boredom, stuck inside a cave with a good line-of-transmission from the meeting ground, waiting for the meeting to happen. It could start tonight or a week from now. Penske was the communications guy, knew how to handle the gear. Daniel, burrowed deep in his sleeping bag in a depression at the back of the cave, was there to monitor in real time once the show got started. Carter and Teal'c had been needed elsewhere and rotated out. Jack should have rotated out, too; some SFs could have looked after Penske and Daniel. But Daniel should have rotated out and wouldn't, just had to listen while the meeting went down, wasn't content to get a recording later on, let someone on his staff translate for the military contingent if somebody went "Oh crap we're bugged, blow up that hill." And no way was Jack leaving Daniel alone with Penske.

"Come on, Jack. Old times' sake. Blow off some steam. How long since you got some?"

Jack didn't answer. Mostly, not answering was the way to go with Penske. Let him blather on. It was how he passed the time. Mostly, Jack could tune it out.

"You haven't changed _that_ much. I don't care how many years it's been."

Jack didn't answer. He'd changed more than Penske could possibly know. But Penske was a pain in the ass. A lot more intuition than was good for him.

"You worried your pet geek will overhear?"

Jack didn't answer. He wasn't worried about what Daniel might hear Penske say. There was only one secret he needed to keep from Daniel, and it wasn't something that Penske, or anyone else, knew.

"He's dead out. No worries, O'Neill. He won't find out about your dirty past."

Jack didn't answer. What was dirty about his past, blackened past all definition of the word, Daniel had known for a long time. That he'd put it to a couple of guys up against the walls of desert hellholes back in the dark day ... well, Daniel didn't know that, but Jack didn't suppose he cared much if he found out. It was nothing, compared to the rest.

"Come on, Jack. I'm bored out of my gourd, I'm hard as this rock we're stuck in. Three minutes and everybody's happy. I even brought rubbers."

"Knock yourself out, Penske. I'm not stopping you."

"Guess it's not the same when you're not afraid you're gonna get your head blown off when the sun comes up."

Jack didn't answer. He'd never done it out of fear. Aggression, maybe. So much pent-up energy that he didn't trust himself not to blow the op. An inability to back down on a dare. He'd gotten over most of that. It was a long time ago.

"You ever wonder if that's why Cromwell left you behind?"

"Nope."

"I did. I wondered if it was Cromwell you were doing that night."

"It wasn't."

"Kawalsky? Burke?"

"Nope. Go jerk yourself off, Penske, and go to sleep. Your watch is just about over."

"You keep taking doubles. Don't trust me with your pet, huh? That's why you're here, isn't it. Because he stayed."

"Yeah, that's why, Penske. Because you try it on with him, he'll break all your fingers, and I don't want him taking the rap for assault, and in a pinch I can operate that gear."

"Maybe he wouldn't say no."

Jack shrugged. "Wake him up and ask him."

"Anyway, you don't really think he could take me. You're probably more worried about -- "

"I'm not worried about anything, Penske. You force him, I tear your balls off and feed them to you. You know that. I know that. I don't see the amusement value in talking about it." He waited a beat, pretended to reconsider, pensive. "I might enjoy making you chew."

That went past what turned Penske on. He went satisfyingly pale. "You just want him for yourself."

Jack laughed. "Uh-huh."

"Everyone knows it, O'Neill. The only question is whether it happened yet or not."

"Big pot in that office pool, Penske?"

"Big enough. You want to watch yourself there."

Jack made a show of checking his watch. "You tired of this yet? 'Cause it's time to be tired of this now."

"I'll never be tired of you, Jack." Penske shot a look over his shoulder at the lump that was Daniel. "He burrows down right before he wakes up. Could be he's awake right now. Listening."

"Could be," Jack said. He kept subconscious tabs on Daniel's breathing and always knew whether or not he was asleep. He'd been awake for most of the conversation. "You awake, Daniel?"

"No," Daniel said, from deep in his bag.

"I ever tell you I did a couple of guys up against the walls of desert shitholes back in the day?" Jack said.

"Not at the same time, I hope," Daniel said, muffled through down and nylon.

"Feel like getting some head from Penske here?"

"No, thanks."

Jack shrugged at Penske, who had gone morose and silent. He lived to get people's goats. He'd be miserable company now, but that was better than swatting at his gnat bites.

Ten minutes later, the watch change was five minutes old, but Penske was still awake and Daniel's breathing had gone back to the deep regularity of sleep, so Jack left well enough alone. After a while, Penske slunk off into his bag. Jack waited until the sounds of resentful masturbation ended with a bitter grunt that lapsed almost immediately into snores. Then he moved silently across the uneven stone and laid a gentle hand on Daniel's shoulder through the bag. Squeezed, felt him wake, let the hand slide away, went back to his spot by the entrance. Daniel slithered out of his bag, pulled on his jacket and vest, and came to sit cross-legged between him and the comm equipment, munching a chocolate bar for the caffeine.

"You did, huh?" he said.

"Not at the same time."

"Same mission?"

"Different missions. Different countries. Same desert."

"Sand gets in everything."

"Don't I know it."

A few minutes later, the equipment came to life and started recording. Daniel grabbed for the headset, then shook his head, tapped one of the earpieces. Jack went over and gave Penske's bag a kick somewhere in the midsection. Penske was up, stuffed back into his pants, and adjusting the gear within forty seconds.

They got what they needed, laid low for a few hours until the coast cleared, then packed up to bug out. Jack was standing guard outside when Daniel came out of the cave ahead of Penske, looking so deadpan that Jack knew something was up. When Penske came out, he was favoring one arm, and didn't have word one to say the whole hike back to the gate, which was so atypical that Jack knew something was _definitely_ up. While Daniel dialed, Jack came up behind Penske and said, very quietly, "Spill it."

"You just keep that fucking four-eyes the fuck away from me," Penske said.

That night, Jack swung by Daniel's place. "So what was that about?" he said, accepting the microbrew Daniel handed him without asking.

"He was wired," Daniel said. "He was pinging you on don't ask don't tell. NID. I took his extracurricular equipment away from him. No biggie."

"Looked to me like you did a little more than that."

"I might have." Daniel opened a drawer in the coffee table and flipped Jack a microcassette. "There's your conversation, anyway. I had Sam look at the gear. She said it only recorded, it couldn't broadcast. You didn't say anything directly incriminating, but your sarcasm could get you into trouble on a transcript."

"Well, thanks for the critique, Daniel."

"Don't mention it." Daniel sighed, curling into his corner of the sofa where Jack was sprawled. "Kinsey's digging for any scrap. You should stop inviting Sam up to your cabin. You should stop anyway. But I know you know that."

"I only do it because she says no. Do you know that?"

"I know that's what you tell yourself."

"Did I ever tell you you're a pain in the ass?"

"No, I can't say you've ever pointed that out."

Jack took a slug of beer. Daniel looked out the window.

"This sucks," Jack said, after a while.

"I know," Daniel said.

"It's the one thing," Jack said.

"I know," Daniel said. "It's not fair."

"I don't mean ... " Jack gestured vaguely backward, in the direction of what Daniel had said about Carter. " ... you know. I mean ... you know."

"I know," Daniel said. "That's why I said it's not fair. The other, well, that makes more sense. I can actually get behind that. And technically that one applies too."

"So you, uh ... "

"Not exactly."

"But you ... "

"Uh-huh."

"Huh." Jack swigged from his beer. "That makes it worse."

"I know. So you really ... ?"

"They weren't my finer moments. So ... Abydos?"

"And grad school. Except not really."

"Yeah." Jack had almost finished his beer. He swirled the dregs around, delaying the moment of decision. Weighing the torment of staying against the torment of going. Wondering why he did this to himself. He'd wanted to know, he supposed. But knowing was worse. Be careful what you wish for. "Fuck."

"Yeah."

Jack looked at Daniel for a while. The sculpted, masculine beauty. "You really should ... I mean, helluva waste."

Daniel shrugged. "No point."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Now, _that's_ a waste."

"No. It's a tragedy."

Daniel smiled, and Jack had to look away. Then, because it was the last thing, the only thing he didn't know for sure now, he said, "Would you ... if I ... "

Daniel sighed deeply. "No. Bigger picture. Fate of the world."

Jack nodded. "Guess I'll head out, then."

Daniel's head cocked at an angle in his peripheral vision. "Would you?" he asked. "If I ... ?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "I would."

"Huh," Daniel said.

Jack got up. One of the most painful things he ever did. His mind had run at least twenty scenarios, backgrounded. Discreet resorts. Offworld possibilities. Asgard countersurveillance technology. His mind nixed them all. Abstinence was the only guarantee. His career didn't matter, but the program did. The planet did. The galaxy did. Refraining from risk was the only sure bet. And a few covert assignations just weren't gonna cut it. It wasn't about that. Office pool on whether he'd fucked Daniel yet? Man, could people miss the point sometimes.

He said good night, he left in his truck, he went back to his empty house. He didn't say Daniel's name out loud when he came into his empty bed.

He supposed it was better to know.

But fuck Penske anyway.


End file.
